"Obito, get off me! Keep hitting me and I'll hit back!" Yun Jian struggled once, then struggled again, but Obito stayed firmly astride him and gave him another punch. "Then hit me back!"
Unfortunately, without his Sharingan, Yun Jian was evenly matched with Obito, who hadn't awakened his eyes. With Obito pinning him down, even struggling was difficult.
One Uchiha shouted, "Obito, get up! Yun Jian just had surgery." Another called out, "Get up already!"
A thick, pale-yellow bundle of nerves crawled out of the tent behind them, like the roots of an old tree.
In an instant, it shot between Yun Jian and Obito.
The bundle split into countless streams as thick as thumbs. They surged around the two boys, winding first around their fingers and palms, then their wrists, forearms, and elbows, before reaching their shoulders. In no time, the two had been pulled apart.
But that wasn't the end of it. The nerves kept winding, layer upon layer, until they wrapped around their entire bodies. Their ends hovered, ready to strike, covering the pressure points on their bodies.
Yun Jian and Obito looked as if they'd been wrapped up in tree roots. They hung about a zhang apart, roughly a meter above the ground.
Uchiha Kin came out of the tent. One palm was connected to the nerves, while his other hand held onto the tent's steel frame.
"Keep it down! This is a hospital, not somewhere for you to fool around!" He looked at Yun Jian and scoffed. "That inexplicable sense of superiority—you don't like those eyes, then do whatever you want." Then he turned to Obito. "You've surprised me."
Obito shouted, "If you're surprised, then hurry up and let me down! Your jutsu is disgusting. How is it just like Orochimaru's?"
Uchiha Kin gave a quiet "Hm" and drew the nerves back into his body. The two boys immediately dropped toward the ground.
To the two Uchiha's surprise, Yun Jian and Obito both landed on their butts at the same time. They cried out in pain, then got up, rubbing their rear ends and grimacing.
Nohara Rin and Kakashi couldn't bear to watch. One was glad he had a mask on, while the other turned toward Uchiha Kin, gave him a faint smile, and dimpled.
The other two Uchiha tugged Yun Jian along and apologized to Uchiha Kin. "Kin, sorry about that. He'd just lost his eyes and was shaken."
"I can see that." Uchiha Kin gave them a perfunctory reply and nodded. The two Uchiha finally relaxed and led Yun Jian away.
"Why was he like that? He didn't even apologize. You saved him for nothing," Obito said, sticking up for Uchiha Kin.
Uchiha Kin didn't seem to care. "They've never been the only ones who look down on me for being an 'Uchiha who neglects his duties'... And you, who hasn't even awakened your eyes yet, call me a 'good-for-nothing' every other word."
Stung by his words, Obito shouted, "Jerk, I was sticking up for you just now! You may be a good-for-nothing, but it's a fact that you saved him."
He puffed out his chest, brimming with righteous conviction... That's just how I am. I know right from wrong. One is one, and two is two.
Uchiha Kin smiled.
Obito continued, "If you don't want people looking down on you, then prove yourself the Uchiha way. Your weapon manipulation is unquestionably the best in the Uchiha clan. Nobody denies that. If you went to the front lines, you'd crush the enemy!
"You clearly have such skill with weapons, but you insist on hiding in a hospital. Do you know what they say about you?"
Uchiha Kin guessed, "Coward?"
"How'd you know?" Obito stared at him in astonishment.
Uchiha Kin glanced at the tents around them and listened to the wounded groaning. Then he said to Obito, "Compared to the front lines, this is my battlefield. The front doesn't lack a shinobi who can fight, but here, we're short on qualified doctors.
"Because I'm here, many people who should have died from their injuries can survive and walk around again. Many who should have been left disabled can make a full recovery.
"When I save one person, I save a family. Their fathers, mothers, and wives get to keep someone they love because of me. On this battlefield, how many fewer people will the Hidden Leaf lose because I'm here? And how many will recover here and return to the battlefield?
"When I save people, I'm killing the enemy." Uchiha Kin smiled at Obito. "If I went to the front lines to fight, I'd actually be wasting my time."
"But people will look down on you for this," Obito said. "Especially those in your clan who've awakened their eyes."
Uchiha Kin stepped closer and lightly poked Obito in the chest. "Don't live by other people's judgments.
"Every individual is unique and independent. Every person's life is like a leaf. They may look alike, but they're different in truth. Live a life that's true to you. Listen to your heart and ask yourself: are you living the way you want to?
"For example, you... Do you understand what you truly want? No, you don't. Like so many others, you're just drifting through life.
"Born into a troubled world, you're like a puppet, mindlessly following rules set by someone you don't even know. You shout, you laugh, you revel in what you call triumph... When you truly sit down and calmly examine yourself, ask yourself: what is all that?"
"What is it?" Obito suddenly felt afraid and couldn't help taking a step back.
Uchiha Kin said three words: "You're insecure."
Obito froze, then froze again before finally catching on. He shouted, "You jerk, I'm going to kill you!" He raised his fist as if in a playful tantrum and swung it at Uchiha Kin.
His fist had barely made it halfway when Nohara Rin grabbed him. He froze in place like a still image caught mid-motion, then turned back to look at Nohara Rin, sluggishly.
Nohara Rin called out, "Obito," then told Uchiha Kin, "Sorry. Obito gets carried away."
Nohara Rin said, "Obito, you're actually really talented." Obito's face lit up. Then she added, "Being on the same team as Kakashi already proves how talented you are. Not every classmate has what it takes to earn that spot." He looked dejected for a moment, then perked back up...
He didn't like hearing Nohara Rin mention Kakashi, but he was happy she'd praised him indirectly.
Uchiha Kin said, "Mm. He's just a little better than Kakashi."
"Kin-senpai!" Nohara Rin scolded him.
Honestly, he knew what Obito was like and still said things like that, deliberately provoking him. She'd only just managed to calm him down.
She felt like she had it so hard.
Minato Namikaze approached from a distance, one arm in a sling and a warm smile on his face. He'd suffered a minor injury to his arm during a clash with the Rock Ninja; his forearm had a hairline fracture. Mystical Palm Technique had already healed it, but he still needed to keep it immobilized for another day or two.
"Sensei!" "Sensei, are you all better?" The three of them hurried to greet Minato. Obito went straight to the point. "Sensei, does this mean you can teach us to train over the next couple of days?"
Before you continue